


Calendar skulls

by GreatMarta



Category: Coco (2017)
Genre: Childhood, Family, Family Games, Gen, OC, OCs - Freeform, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:54:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreatMarta/pseuds/GreatMarta
Summary: When Luisa was a little girl, she came to the conclusion that calendars were the coloring books for adults. A short story from Luisa's childhood.
Kudos: 4





	Calendar skulls

When Luisa was a little girl, she came to the conclusion that calendars were the coloring books for adults. There was a calendar that hung in their kitchen and Mama drew pictures in it every month. Some days she drew red crosses, some days she drew skulls. The skulls were empty at first, but then Papa came and added decorations of his own. Sometimes he drew colorful markings, sometimes he drew hair and mustaches. One time Luisa caught him at work, and when she saw how much fun he was having, she wanted to join in. “Papa, let me!” she pleaded. 

To this, Papa laughed. “Sorry, Mija, I’m afraid I’ve got this one covered. But tell you what - next time your Mama draws a skull, whoever sees it first gets to color it. How would you like it?“ 

Luisa thought it was a great idea. From then on she looked at the calendar every day, as often as possible. As soon as a skull appeared - an empty, hollow skull, made of only black lines - she ran to grab her markers and filled it with all the colors she could fit in. She was very proud of the achievement. 

Papa wasn’t even upset - on the contrary, he congratulated her and called her his little Frida Kahlo (Luisa didn’t know what that meant, but it sounded like a compliment). 

This little game continued in the following months. Since Papa had to go to work and was away for most of the day, Luisa usually won. If Papa beat her to it, she became determined to get back at him the next time. As for Mama, she merely rolled her eyes and went along with whatever she was doing. 

One time Luisa told Mama she was bored of coloring skulls, so maybe Mama could draw something else for a change.

“Wouldn’t you prefer a coloring book?” asked Mama in a tired voice. 

“No!” said Luisa. “I prefer the calendar!”

Next month, Mama drew a different picture. It took Luisa a long time to figure out what it was supposed to be.

“It’s mountains around a lake!” she decided finally, proud of her smart brain.

Luisa’s sister Lucia, who happened to be standing behind her, had a different interpretation. “It looks like broken eggs to me. Empty shells from two eggs, a puddle of egg whites and two yolks in the middle.”

Luisa turned to her with accusation on her face. “It’s not yolks, it’s the sun! The sun’s reflection in the lake!”

“And when have you ever seen two suns?” Lucia challenged.

“I did! There are two sometimes!”

Lucia shook her head. “It’s the moon, silly, not a second sun.”

“It can’t be the moon! The moon is asleep during the day!”

“How can a moon be asleep if it’s not alive?”

Luisa was running out of arguments and she did not like it one bit. “Mama! Lucia is mean to me!” she yelled is desperation.

“Liar!” yelled Lucia. “I’m just smarter and she can’t stand it!”

The following month, Mama returned to drawing skulls. It made Luisa a little sad, but she figured out it was for the best. At least everybody agreed they were skulls, and not, let’s say, flowers.


End file.
